Netherlands arrests 1994 Rwandan genocide suspect

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - The Netherlands has arrested Charles Ntahontuye Ndereyehe, a Rwandan fugitive suspected of playing a key role in the 1994 genocide against Tutsi ethnic group, Rwandan authorities confirmed Wednesday.

“He was arrested on Tuesday in line with an international arrest warrant issued by Rwanda’s prosecution in 2010,” Jean damascene Bizimana, the executive secretary of Rwanda’s National Commission for the fight against genocide, told reporters.

His arrest came months after France helped an arrest of another top Rwandan genocide suspect, Felicien Kabuga, who is accused of financing the genocide.

Ndereyehe, 71, hails from the former commune Cyabingo in northern Rwanda where most of the genocidal leaders and perpetrators lived in 1992.

He is alleged to have formed and led a group that was responsible for sensitizing students to plan and execute the genocide in Nyakinama and former National University of Rwanda in Butare.

He was also a member of the then ruling National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development party, but later in 1992 participated in the formation of the Hutu extremist party, Coalition for the Defense of the Republic, that played a big role in the genocide.

In 2008, Ndereyehe had been tried in absentia and sentenced to life by traditional Gacaca court in southern Rwanda and found guilty of masterminding the genocide.

About 1 million people mainly Tutsi and moderate Hutus were killed in the Rwandan genocide against Tutsi in a period of 100 days.